Brief

Connected cars leak data to advertisers and big tech, study finds

Researchers measured traffic from 21 cars and found widespread data sharing with advertisers and big tech.

By Felo News Desk · Published Tue, 29 Sep 2026 19:32:09 GMT

A study by Northeastern University and Consumer Reports measured traffic from 21 connected cars and found that many vehicles share data with advertisers and large technology firms. The research, which tested cars from 19 brands, revealed that Tesla’s Model 3 contacted 34 advertising and tracking domains and 37 app‑related domains, while Alphabet’s domains were the most frequently reached. The study also noted that the Buick Envista and Mercedes‑Benz EQS did not contact any third‑party domains beyond the OEM. The researchers parked 11 electric cars in a Faraday cage to see if loss of cellular signal would shift traffic to Wi‑Fi; the traffic patterns remained largely unchanged. The findings suggest that connected cars continue to be a privacy nightmare, with data being sent to advertisers, trackers, and major tech companies such as Microsoft and Adobe.

Key facts

Tesla Model 3 contacted 34 advertising, tracking and analytic domains (arstechnica.com)
Alphabet’s domains were the most frequently contacted (arstechnica.com)
Buick Envista and Mercedes‑Benz EQS did not reach third‑party domains (arstechnica.com)
Parking 11 electric cars in a Faraday cage did not stop third‑party traffic (arstechnica.com)